Boys Basketball | Darshan Thomas scores late to lift Marist over Benet

By Xavier Sanchez
Correspondent

A life lesson can be learned anywhere and at any time.

“Sometimes it is hard and it does not work out, but you have to keep fighting and he did,” Marist coach Brian Hynes said after the RedHawks defeated Benet on Feb. 2.

The “he” Hynes was referring to was Marist senior guard Darshan Thomas, who rebounded his own missed 3-pointer and sank a 10-foot floater with 1.3 seconds left to lift the RedHawks over the Redwings , 65-64, in a matchup of the East Suburban Catholic’s top two teams.

Thomas had the last shot against Benet on Dec. 15 but missed, and Marist left Lisle with a 62-61 loss.

“To have the guts to take the shot, and then have the wherewithal to fight and still get the rebound, I could not be happier for him,” Hynes said.

Stephen Brown finished with a team-high 22 points for the victors. Sophomore guard TJ Tate scored 14 points, sophomore Adoni Vassilakis has 12 and Thomas added nine.

Marist sophomore guard TJ Tate slices through the Benet defense for a layup. Photo by Xavier Sanchez

Benet sophomore Gabe Sularski scored a game-high 26 points.

The RedHawks struggled early on, with Benet holding a 20-9 lead after one quarter.

Marquis Vance came off the bench and provided a bit of a spark offensively, scoring eight points in the first half. Benet led 32-26 at halftime and would not trail until late in the fourth quarter.

Hynes said Vance can be a starter but has instead embraced his role off the bench.

“His teammates get excited when he gets in,” Hynes said. “He is such an Energizer Bunny that when our kids see him check in they say, ‘Now we are going to go to another level.’ And he does it every game.”

Thomas was scoreless in the first half, but hit a 3-pointer to give the RedHawks a 61-60 lead — their first of the game — with 3:10 left in the fourth quarter. He extended the lead to three points with about a minute left, but Benet hit four-of-six free throws over a 40-second span to take a 64-63 lead.

The winning sequence began with Marist calling a timeout with 13 seconds to go.

Thomas, remembering the loss to the Redwings earlier in the season, was determined for the results to be different this time.

Marist’s Stephen Brown pulls up to shoot over a defender for a RedHawks basket. Photo by Xavier Sanchez

“I caught the ball, shot it, and instead of pouting — like ‘not again’ — I went for the rebound and went and got it done,” he said.

“I have to thank my teammates for that, especially No. 0, Adoni. He said, ‘Go in the corner, I got you, just knock it down and win this for us.’ I said, ‘I know I will.’”

Hynes applauded his player’s efforts, especially Vassilakis.

“When adversity hits, you come together, and Adoni has been the leader of that — getting his arm around kids and letting them know that it is going to be okay.

“I am really happy he’s a sophomore.”

Benet and Marist are both young teams loaded with talent. The RedHawks’ roster has six sophomores and four juniors, while the Redwings have four sophomores and eight juniors.

Tate is excited for the future of this East Suburban Catholic rivalry.

“Next two years are going to be good,” he said. “They are going to want to beat us, we are going to want to beat them.”

Marist sophomore guard Adoni Vassilakis fights his way through traffic during the RedHawks’ win over Benet on Feb. 2.